The Merstham Tunnel Mystery
by W.O. Gay
In the early days of railways many of those who regarded steam locomotion as an abomination prophesied that passengers would be suffocated through lack of air in the tunnels or if they did not die from natural causes would be robbed and murdered in the darkness.
The railway authorities were able to find sympathetic experts to prove that railway travel was very healthy but they could not, of course, guarantee personal security. A few passengers were robbed in trains but in general those who travelled by rail were much safer than those who used the highway, and, although some unhappy individuals chose to commit suicide in railway tunnels it was not until 1905 that a body was found in a tunnel in circumstances which pointed, after investigation, to murder.
At 1055 pm on Sunday 24th September 1905, Sub-Inspector Peacock was walking through Merstham Tunnel on the Brighton line when he found the body of a woman on the up side. The body was terribly mutilated. Peacock reported the matter immediately to the Merstham station master who advised the local Police. Three constables were soon on the scene with a stretcher and the body was taken to the Feathers Hotel to await an inquest. There were no letters or papers of any kind on the body to assist identification and even more significantly there was no money and no railway ticket.
No report was received of any doors being found open on trains which had passed through the tunnel and in the early stages of the inquiry there was no indication that any untoward incident had occurred on a train. The first theory was that the woman had walked into the tunnel to commit suicide. A preliminary medical examination, however, revealed that a scarf had been thrust down the woman’s throat and this, coupled with the fact that certain marks were found on the wall of the tunnel, gave the case a sinister turn. A description of the dead woman was circulated and on the Monday morning a young man named Robert Money identified the body as that of his sister, Mary Money.
A Home Office expert expressed the opinion that the woman had been dead approximately one hour when found and that bruises and other injuries must have been caused before death, probably as a result of a violent struggle. He also stated that there had been no sexual interference. The 0933 pm train from London Bridge was scheduled to pass through the tunnel at the crucial period and the guard was able to assist to some extent although he did not recollect certain vital points until some days after he was first interviewed. At East Croydon, he had noticed, in a first-class compartment, a young man and also a young woman answering the description of Miss MONEY. At South Croydon he had seen them again, this time sitting close together. Beyond the tunnel, at Redhill, he had seen the man alight from what he believed to be the same compartment and walk towards the exit. Further information came from a signalman at Purley Oaks who reported that when the 0933 pm train passed his box he saw a man and woman struggling in a first-class carriage. The signalman seems to have been accustomed to passengers wrestling amorously in first-class carriages because he did not attach much importance to it at the time. The Police thought that it was merely a question of checking up on Miss Money’s male acquaintances and the case was solved. But Miss Money did not appear to have any boy friends.
She worked for a dairyman named Bridger and lived in at premises in Lavender Hill, Clapham. On Sunday 24th September, she was on duty and according to a fellow employee named Emma Hone she announced, at about 0700 pm, that she was going for ‘a little walk’ and would not be very long. The Police set about the task of tracing her movements from the time she left Emma Hone to the time her body was found. A Miss Golding who kept a sweet shop in the Station approach at Clapham Junction told them that shortly after 0700 pm Miss Money, known to her as a regular customer, visited the shop and bought some chocolate. In conversation with Miss Golding it seems Miss Money mentioned that she was going to Victoria. Inquiries at the Junction produced a ticket collector who identified Miss Money from a photograph as a young woman he had seen on No. 6 Platform at 0720 pm. She told him she was going to Victoria. From that moment there was nobody who could say positively that they saw Miss Money until Sub-Inspector Peacock found her in the tunnel.
Miss Emma Hone, who lived with Miss Money and knew her very well, had no knowledge of any male acquaintances. The brother, Robert Money, made a few suggestions and at the adjourned inquest before the East Surrey Coroner on 2nd October, a young London and North Western Railway clerk was asked to account for his movements on the day of the murder. He had known Miss Money for about five years, and had ‘walked out’ with her. He was able to show that he was miles away at the vital time and was cleared from all suspicion. When the inquest was resumed once more on 16th October, Miss Money’s employer and his brother also gave evidence to refute certain suggestions that they had associated in more than friendly fashion with the victim. Superintendent Warren of the London and South Western Railway Police gave evidence on this occasion of various experiments which had been carried out in the tunnel with the actual carriages which were on the 0933 pm train on the night of the murder. The verdict, rather surprisingly, was that ‘Miss Money met her death by severe injuries brought about by a train but the evidence was insufficient to show whether she fell or was thrown from a train.’
There seems little doubt that Miss Money, unknown to her family (with the possible exception of her brother), had a man friend whom she went to meet on that fatal Sunday night. Perhaps she met him at Victoria or at some other station and after they had eaten somewhere (for the autopsy showed that she had had a meal about three hours before her death), the friend suggested a short journey in a first-class carriage. It is well known that a first-class carriage on an evening train is a very satisfactory way to secure a little privacy. The friend no doubt booked, and retained the tickets, and perhaps there was a struggle when he was unable to achieve the real purpose of the journey. Miss Money had a purse and money when she left Clapham; the purse was never found. Was it taken to give the impression that robbery was the motive? Or was robbery the motive after all? Was the murderer an acquaintance, or was he a casual pick-up? Who was the man who left the train at Redhill? He was described as thin, with a moustache, and wearing a bowler – not a very helpful description at a time when bowlers and moustaches were commonplace. He was never traced and must have gone the same way as the man with the dark moustache who left the train at Wandsworth in the case of Elizabeth Camp in 1897.
An unsatisfactory feature of the case was the character of Robert Money. He was proved to be an unscrupulous liar and it is worthy of note that his own end was a tragedy. On 19th August 1912, in a burning house at Eastbourne, were found the bodies of a man, his wife, and one child, and two other children, all of whom had been murdered. Another woman, the mother of the two children, had received two bullet wounds in the neck, but survived. The man, who had killed the others, was known as Robert Hicks Murray and there was a revival of interest in the case of Miss Money when it was learned that Murray was none other than Robert Money! He had married the two women, who were sisters and incredibly enough, neither knew of the marriage of the other.
People asked themselves in 1905 and again in 1912 did Robert Money tell all he knew about the death of his sister?
Webmaster’s Note:
This article was written by William Owen Gay (later Chief Constable of the British Transport Police) and was part of a series ‘Murder in Transit’ published in the BTP Journal.